Several pharmacy colleges in the country are facing severe shortage of teachers, as most of the pharmacy graduates prefer industry to teaching, thanks to the fatty pay packets offered by the industries. With the spurt in the pharmacy colleges in the country during the last couple of years, the issue has become more acute in the recent years, especially in the colleges, which have started recently.
Though the shortage of pharmacy teachers is an issue that has affected almost all the pharmacy colleges across the country, the issue is more visible in states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Orissa. These states have seen establishment of several colleges during the past few years. But sources said, that many of these newly established colleges are functioning without even a single permanent teaching faculty. At the postgraduate level too, things are not rosy, as several posts of senior faculty members including those of professors and assistant professors have been lying vacant for years.
"The problem of pharmacy teachers' shortage is not specific to any particular state. It is tangible across the country", Pharmacy Council of India president Dr B Suresh admitted.
It is learnt that very few colleges have enough teaching faculty and most of them function with the support of guest faculties. Some of the pharmacy teachers are working in more than four colleges or some of their names were registered with more than three colleges. It is also learnt that the All India Council for Technical Education is not following the norms to grant permission for new pharmacy colleges. They will only become worse in the coming years with the introduction of Pharm.D course from the next academic year.
In several colleges of Maharashtra, which is known for pharmacy education, posts of professors and assistant professors are lying vacant for years due to the shortage of qualified and experienced teaching faculty. The shortage of professors and assistant professors in the state is nearly 40 per cent. The situation is not different in Kerala and Haryana and in these two states several colleges are functioning without having required teaching faculty.
In Andhra Pradesh, which has more than 120 pharmacy colleges at various levels, many of the newly started pharmacy colleges don't even have a single permanent faculty. The AICTE has granted accreditation to several pharmacy colleges without following the norms, sources said.
The situation is worse in Orissa, which has more than 50 pharmacy colleges including 29 diploma colleges, 15 degree colleges and seven postgraduate colleges. The state needs at least 50 teachers at the postgraduate level to fill the gap. In Orissa, very few colleges have managed to get the required number of teaching faculty to run the courses.
Association of Pharmacy Teachers of India (APTI) Orissa branch president Jaganaath Sahoo said, "The pharmacy colleges in Orissa find it difficult to run because of shortage of teaching staff. The shortage is caused by the increased flow of pharmacists to the industry as the companies offer high salary."